History Podcast and Blog

Los Angeles doesn’t have a Statue of Liberty. It can’t boast an Eiffel Tower. But we do have one monument unlike anything else in the world: the Watts Towers. Built between 1921 and 1954 by an Italian immigrant named Simon Rodia — in his backyard, with a window washer’s tools and no special equipment — they’re among the United States’ best and most famous examples of vernacular art. (Another is Leonard Knight’s Salvation Mountain, just a few hours away in the desert, which I did a photo essay about earlier this year.) And yet many people in Los Angeles (I’d even say most) have never seen the Towers and don’t know much about them, perhaps fearing the reputation of Watts. The towers are an amazing and enigmatic national treasure.

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Historyonair.com is the online home of the podcast History Podcast. You can find history related articles, video and podcast here. You can contact the author of this blog and its content at historypodcast@gmail.com. Help us make the website better by taking this super quick survey.